The Torah in Parashat Behaalotekha tells of Miriam and Aharon’s disparaging remarks about their brother, Moshe, in the context of which we are told, “The man Moshe was exceedingly humble, more so than any other person on the face of the earth” (12:3). 

            The Sefer Ha-yerei’im (232) cites this verse as a Biblical source for the obligation of humility.  He notes that the Behag lists humility as one of the Torah’s affirmative commands (164), despite the fact that there does not seem to be any explicit source for such a command.  The Yerei’im thus suggests that the source of this mitzva is the Torah’s description of Moshe Rabbenu, from which we can deduce the value and importance of humility.  The To’afot Re’eim commentary to the Yerei’im raises the question of how a description of Moshe could be interpreted as establishing a requirement that is binding upon all of us, and he suggests, “Nevertheless, it is obligatory for every God-fearing person to endeavor to achieve a bit of it [Moshe’s level of humility] to the best of his ability.” 

            Other Rishonim suggest different sources for this mitzva.  The Ramban, in his Torah commentary (Devarim 17:20), claims that the Torah introduces a prohibition against arrogance in its discussion of the Israelite king, where it requires that the king write and study a Torah scroll “so that his heart does not become arrogant over his brethren” (Devarim 17:20).  The Semag lists the prohibition against arrogance as one of the 365 Torah prohibitions based upon the famous verse in Sefer Devarim (6:12, 8:11), “Be careful, less you forget the Lord” (“Hishamer lekha pen tishkach et Hashem”), which forbids feelings of arrogance whereby one forgets his status of subservience and inferiority before the Almighty. 

            A number of writers addressed the question of why, if arrogance indeed constitutes a Torah prohibition (or if humility constitutes a Torah obligation), it is permissible to show somebody honor, which could easily lead to arrogance.  Seemingly, putting somebody in a position where he or she might likely become arrogant should violate the Torah prohibition of “lifnei iver lo titein mikhshol,” which forbids putting people in a position where they are likely to commit a transgression. 

            Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer (cited in Umka De-parsha, Parashat Behaalotekha, 5770, p.1) explained that although in principle showing honor would fall under the prohibition of “lifnei iver,” in practice it does not, because the Torah itself requires us to treat others respectfully.  As we have an obligation to show worthy people honor, this does not qualify as a forbidden “mikhshol” (stumbling block) placed in front of our peers.  We must fulfill our requirement to treat other people with respect, and it is then their responsibility to avoid arrogance. 

            This analysis brings to mind an insight of Rav Yechezkel Levenstein (Or Yechezkel – Middot, pp. 21-23) regarding the famous story of Rabbi Akiva’s students, who were punished for not according honor to one another (Yevamot 62b).   Many theories have been proposed to explain why these outstanding scholars failed in this regard and did not treat each other with respect.  Rav Yechezkel suggests that recognizing the grave spiritual dangers of pursuing honor, Rabbi Akiva’s students figured they would be doing one another a disservice by showing honor.  They withheld respect from each other thinking that this was warranted in order to avoid the risk of arrogance.  (See Rav Yitzchak Blau’s Fresh Fruit and Vintage Wine: The Ethics and Wisdom of the Aggada, pp. 44-45.)  

            The gravity of arrogance must discourage us from pursuing honor, but must not discourage us from showing honor to others.  Just as the Torah forbids us from experiencing arrogance, it also commands us to give appropriate respect and honor to other people, and neither of these two commands negates the importance of the other.